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NEVADA'S WAR CLAIM. 



If there are any claiius that are just and proper, which the United States ought 
to pay. this is one of theui. It is as sacred an obligation, in my judgment, as ttie 
national bonds.— Senator Teller. 

There is no sort of question as to its justice. It is just as much due as your 
board bill, which you have to paj- every month.— !^en'ator Hawley. 

1 want to .say to the Senator from Nevada that the Senate is committed to these 
State claims by vote, by sentiment, and it is only a question of time when they 
will pass.— Senator Hale in 1891. 



STATEMENT 



HON. WM. M. STEWART, 



OF NEVADA, 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 



Thursday, May 31, 1900. 



1900. 







Cong;, re ' i 
10 J H . 



Neyada's War Claim. 
STATEMENT 

OF 

HON. WM. M. STEWART 



The Senate having under consideration the bill (H. R. 11213) making appro- 
priations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year 
ending June 30. 1901, and for other purposes — 

Mr. STEWART said: 

Mr. President: I offer the amendment which I send to the desk, 
to come in on page 07, after the word "available," at the end of 
line 15. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The amendment will be stated. 

The Secretary. On page 67, after line 15, it is proposed to 
insert: 

To pay the State of Nevada the sum of 8i62.441.97 for moneys advanced in 
aid of the suppression of the rebellion in the civil war, as found and reported 
to Congress on January 22, lyoii, by the Secretary of the Treasury, as pro- 
vided in an act of Congress approved March 3, 1S99. 

Mr. STEW ART. Mr. President, I was very much disappointed, 
when the report of the Committee on Appropriations was pre- 
sented, to find the claim of the State of Nevada coupled with a 
large number of other claims. It stands on a ditterent footing 
from any other claim that was rep')rled bj- the committee. It 
is for money advanced by Nevada, wlide it was a Territory, in aid 
of the suppression of the rebellion. The State assumed the debt, 
although it need not have done so, and it was unfortunate that it 
did. 

It is a debt which the State has carried and paid iiitere.st upon 
ever since: and it is very burdensome. There is very little taxa- 
ble property in the State. Nevada is poor, and this debt is mate- 
rially retarding her development, because the rate ot taxation is 
necessarily high, and people do not like to settle in the little 
valleys in the State since silver mining has been abandoned and 
the price of silver has gone down. The resources of the State are 
inadequate to the demands upon it. J. wish to call the attention 
of the Senate to the claim and to the manner in which it has been 
investigated. 

On the '^Tth of June, ISSC. an act of Congr ss was passed author- 
izing the Secretary or the Treasurj'. with the aid and assistance of 
the "Secretary of War. to examine and investigate the claims of 
Texas. Colorado, Oregon, Nebraska. California. Kansas, antl Ne- 
vada and the Territt)ries of W^ashington and Idaho for moneys 
expended and indebtedness assumed by said States and 'terri- 
tories in repelling invasions and suppressing Indian hostilities in 
said States and Territories, and for other purposes. ('^2 Stats., 
111.) 

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On tlae 4th of Angast. 18^6, Congress passed an act for the benefit 
of the above-named States, the second section of which is as fol- 
lows: 

S EC. 2. The Secretary of War is hereby authorized to detail three Army offi- 
cers to assist him in examining and reporting nijon the claims of the States 
and Teri-itories named in the acts of June 27, 188™', chapter 2-tl of the Laws of 
the Fortj'-seventh Congress, and such officers, before entering upon said 
duties, shall take and subscribe an oath that they will carefully examine said 
claims, and that they will, to the best of their ability, make a just and impar- 
tial statement thereof as required by said act. (34 Stats., 217.) 

Under the first act the claims of Kansas, Texas, and Nebraska 
were examined by the Treasury and War Departments and paid. 
The amount paid to Texas was sl.UT.j.TOo.oT, of which sum .sOiT.- 
177.40 was put on an urgent deficiency bill in the first session 
of the Fiftieth Congress i2o Stats., 71), after the bill had passed 
both Houses and when the Senate amendments were under con- 
sideration in the Blouse, and was agreed to in conference: and the 
remainder. §148,615.97. was paid September 30, 1890, in the defi- 
ciency bill of 1890 {SO Stats.. .589). 

The board of war claims examiners were engaged under the 
provisions of these two acts for several years, and finally made 
their report to the Secretary of War, who made his report in De- 
cember. 1889, on the claims of California. Oregon, and Nevada 
to Congress, which were printed as .-enate Documtnits Nos. 10. 11, 
and 17, Fifty-first Congress, first session, comprising three large 
volumes, and which gave in great detail the history of said claims 
and stated the exact amount which each State had furnished and 
had then actually paid. 

On this adjustment by the board of war claims examiners the 
Senate, in March, 1891, incorporated an amendment in the general 
deficiency bill (H. R. 18ii.58) to pay the amounts so found dueeach 
State, and which amendment passed the Senate. Air. Sayers, the 
chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, objected to 
the amendment on the ground that the claims of California, Ore- 
gon, and Nevada had not been passed upon by the Treasurj' De- 
partment, although they had been much more thoroughly examined 
■by the war claims examiners than the Treasury Department could 
have done, and that, too. in pursuance of a law specially passed 
for that purpose. The objection was merely technical. 

In addition to the passage of these claims in aptn-opriation bills, 
independent bills providing for their payment passed the Senate 
both in the Fifty-first and Fifty-third Congresses. ( See Senate 
Report 1351, page 7, Fifty-sixth Congress, first session.) 

At the last session of the Fifty-fiftli Congress the claims of Cal- 
ifornia, Oregon, and Nevada were again passed by the Senate in 
the "omnibus bill." but the California delegation in the House 
stated that they had not fully examined the subject, and the con- 
ferees on the part of the House objected to the payment of the 
claims. The conference committee, however, inserted in the om- 
nibus bill the following provision: 

That the claim of the State of Nevada for moneys advanced in aid of the 
supi)ression of the rebellion iu the civil war be, and the same is hereby, re- 
ferred to the Secretary of the Treasury to investigate and reiiort to Congress 
at the next ses.sion the amount f urni>^hed by said State of Nevada, or by the 
Territory of Nevada and assumed by said State, in aid of the suppression of 
the reliellion of the civil war. with such interest on the same as said State has 
actually paid, tugcther with what amounts have been heretofore paid by the 
United States. CiO Stats.. 1206. ) 

The Secretary of the Treasury, in pursuance of the above law, 

4490 



made the following report, printed as House Document No. 322, 
Fifty-sixth Congress, tirst session: 

CLAIM OF THE STATE OF NEVADA. 

Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting: a report on the 
claim of the State of Nevada for moneys advanced in aid of the suppression 
of the rebellion in the civil war. January 30, 19110.— Referred to the Commit- 
tee on War Claims, and ordered to be printed. 

Treasury Department, Office of the Secretary, 

Washingtim. D. C., January 19; 1900. 
Sir: Referring to the act of March 3, isiiy (:30 Stat., page 130ij), upon the sub- 
ject of the claim of the State of Nevada for moneys advanced in aid of the 
suppression of the rebellion in the civil war, and calling for report to Con- 
gress by the Secretary of the Treasury thereon, I have the honor to transmit 
herewith copy of statement of the case made by the Auditor for the War De- 
partment January 18, 1900. 

Respectfully, L. J. GAGE. Secrclary. 

The Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Treasury Department, 
Office of Auditor for the War Department. 

Washington, Jaiiuarij iv. 1900. 

Sir: In reply to your communication of March 11, 1S99. requesting a report 
under provisions of act of March o. is'JO. paragraph "'State claims'" (Public, 
190), upon the claim of the State of Nevada for moneys advanced in aid of the 
suppre.ssiou of the rebellion in the civil war, I have the honor to state the fol- 
lowing: 

On December 24, 1889. the Secretary of War, acting in accordance with a 
resolution of the Senate of February 27, 1889, transmitted a full and complete 
statement showing the amount exjiended by the State of Nevada, with such 
interest on the same as the State had iiaid between February 10, 1805. and 
JunejJO, ].s,s9, amounting in all to the sum of .■r:412,tj(.H).31. This report is found 
in Executive Document No. 10, first session Fifty-first Congress. 

From a certified statement of Samuel P. Davis, State comptroller of Ne- 
vada, made on December I'.i, Ks99. it appears that since the time covered by 
the report of liie Secretary of War— i. e., from June 30. 18S9, to December 31, 
1899— the State of Nevada has paid the sum of $.5S.4itl.27 as interest upon money 
paid by the State in aiding in supjtressing the rebi-llion in the civil war. Ac- 
cordingly, assiiniing this statement to be correct, the total amount expended 
by the State of Nevada, or by the Territory of Nevada and assumed by said 
State, with such interest on the same as the said State has actually paid, 
amounts to $171,001. .58. 

Upon reports of an examination of this claim made by the State war claims 
examiners, the Third Auditor, and the Second Comptroller of the Treasury, 
under act of J nne 27. I8.s2, the sum of i;7, 559.61 was allowed ana paid to the 
State of Nevada on April 10, 1^8-i. This amount, deducted from the total 
amount paid by the State of Nevada, loaves the sum of $102,411.97 for which 
the State has riot been reimbursed. The following is a tabulated statement 
of this claim: 

Amount of claim of the State of Nevada, including interest up to 
June 30, 1889. as shown in the report of the Seci'etary of War (see 

page 10, Senate Document No. 10. Fifty first Congress) 1413,600.31 

Amount of interest paid liy Nevada from June 30, 1889, to Decem- 
ber 31, 1899 - 58,401.37 

Total claim 471.001.58 

Amount which the State was reimbursed on April 10, 1888, under 
act of June 27, 1882 8,5.")9.61 

Total paid by the State for which no reimbursement has 

been made 4ti2.441.97 

Respectfully, 

F. H. MORRIS, Auditor. 

The claim of the State of Nevada has therefore had all the ex- 
amination that the claims of the States of Kansas. Texas, and Ne- 
braska liad piior to their payment. The report of the Secretar_y 
of the Treas iry makes it unnece.ssary to have any further exami- 
nation of tiie claim. The intention of Congress in passing the 
law of March 8, lft)99, directing the Secretary of the Treasui'y to 

4490 



report to Congress the sum due the State of Nevada, was clearly 
to make an appropriation at the present session tor said claim in 
the sum so found due. 

On the 4th day of March. 1891, while the general deficiency bill, 
H. R. I;5'i5y, was under consideration in the Senate, which in- 
cluded the amendment for the payment of tlie Nevada claim, the 
Senator from Maine [Mr. Halk] had charge of tlie l)ill. 

I want to call the attention of thebenator from Maine es]iecially 
to this matter. I was explaining the amf-mlment. It was feared 
we could not get the bill through, as it was then the last day of 
the session, and Senators ami memhers of the Honse came to me 
and promised faitlifullj' that if 1 would let the bill pass — I stood 
right herear tlietime the debate occurred — they would at the next 
session make an appropriation for the State of Nevada: that there 
would be no doubt al-out it; and the Senator from Maine made 
remarks that were very encouraging, upon which I toolv my seat 
and let the bill pass and post^ioned action on the ameniim nt. 
That was nine or ten years ago, and the Senator from Maine then 
said: 

Mr. Hale. Mr. President, I desh-e to say only a word in reply to the Sena- 
tor from Nevada. The instructions given to the committee on the part of 
the House do not apply to the State claims, but only to the railroad claims, 
so that in the conference which will immediately ensue the Senate conferees 
will not find the conference embarrassed by any action of the House aside 
from those claims. Tlie committee of conference will be in session imme- 
diately, and I only repeat what I have s'lid before, that it will endeavor to 
secure as much as possible of the action of the Senate ujjon this l)ill. 

I want to say to the Senator from Nevada— I know that he is a reasonable 
man upon all these subjects — that the Senate is committed to these State 
claims by vote, by sentiment, and it is only a question of time when they will 
pass. 

The present bill, aside from the matters which have been discussed, con- 
tains upon it an appropriation for pensions for soldiers amounting to S'.'S,(XK1,- 
(XK). I do not suppose there is a Senator here who, whatever may be his feel- 
ing about other matters in the bill, would desire to wreck the bill and thereby 
leave the soldiers without money for the payment of their pensions during 
the remainder of the year. Calling the attention of the Senator to this, I 
leave the subject now, and hope to be able to report from the conference 
committee in a very short time. 

The claim of Nevada was incurred by the Territory of Nevada, 
which was admitted into the Union by an act of Congress, without 
application being made to come in. when the usual public build- 
ings had not been erected for the State, when no appropriation had 
been made for a State prison and other buildings— it came into 
the Union destitute. The State has pa'd and is paying interest 
on this money, and isnow very much embarrassed in conse^iuence. 

The claim iias been investigated: it has In en reported upon at 
nearly every session by com m.t tees of i oth Houses: it has Veen 
reported every time favorably, and once very elaborately from the 
Committee on Military Affairs by the Senator from Minnesota 
[Mr. Davis] . who investigated the claim thor<^ughly. It has been 
reported four or five times by various coinniittoes of the House, 
but failed to get concurrent action of the two Houses. 

Now. 1 ask that this item be inserted in tiie bill. It stands on a 
different footing from the California and Oregon claims: it is a 
better claim of indebtedness incurred, and besides, it has passed 
the Treasury Department under a special act, which those claims 
have not. I know the California and Oregon claims are just: i 
have done all I could to procure their payment: but I hope that 
this item may be paid now. because it has been delayed so long, 
and because the State is sorely in need of the money. Nobody 
add 



can assign any reason against the payment of the claim, ana tnere 
is no question as to its validity. 

Mr. ALLISON. Mr. President, I sympathize with the Senator 
from Nevada and with the State of Nevada as respects this claim, 
which has been pending now for thirty-five years or more: but, 
admonished by suggestions of the Senate, I am constrained to 
make a point of order upon this amendment that there is no esti- 
mate for it, and that it has not b^en passed upon by a standing 
committee. 

Mr. STEWART. It has; it has been reported by the Committee 
on Claims. 

Mr. ALLISON. Very well. Then I make the suggestion that 
there is no estimate for it, and that it is a claim which stands in 
the relation of a great many other State claims that are now pend- 
ing in both Houses of Congress. Of course, it is well known that 
the Committee on Appro. iriations endeavors to deal with some of 
these claims, ijut can not deal with them intelligently as respects 
the amount. I find here that the Auditor for the War Depart- 
ment has Tiiade a report upon the amount of the claim, etc. 

Mr. 8TE \VART. Under a special law for that purpose. 

Mr. ALLISON. It is a report of the Auditor: not an estimate 
of the Treasury Department. 

Mr. STEWART. There is a report of the Secretary of the 
Treasury as to the amount, and the amendment is recommended 
by a standing committee. 

Mr. ALLISON. The Secretary of the Treasury simply states 
that, in answer to a letter written by the Senator from Nevada, 
I believe 

Mr. STEWART. Oh, no; in pursuance of law. 

]\Ir. ALLISON. A letter written to the Speaker of the House 
of Representatives: 

Referrini,'' to the actof March 3, 1899 (SOStat., page 1206), upon the subject of 
the claim of tlif State of Nevada for moneys advanced in aid of the suppres- 
sion of the lebelliou in the civil war, and calling for report of Congress by the 
Secretary of the Treasury thereon, 1 have the honor to transmit herewith 
copy of statement of the case made by the Auditor for the War Department 
January 18, 1900. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair sustains the point 
of order. 

Mr. STEWART. Sustains the point of order! 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Yes. 

Mr. STEWART. Well. I will have to appeal from the deci- 
sion of the Chair, because it is not legislation and it is recom- 
mended 

Mr. ALLISON. There is no estimate for it. 

Mr. STEWART. It is estimated for by the Secretary of the 
Treasury. He has found the amount due, and the amendment is 
to carry out existing law. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Was it reported from a com- 
mittee as an amendment to the bill and sent to the c3ommittee on 
Appropriations? 

Mr. STEWART. It was sent to the Committee on Claims, re- 
ported as an amendment to this bill, and sent to the Committee 
on Appropriations some time ago. It has gone through every 
phase that makes it in order. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. A State claim, according to 
Jefferson, is not a private c aim in the ordinary acceptation of the 
term. The Chair was not aware that the amendment had been 

4490 



8 

reported from a committee as an amendment to this bill and sent 
to the Committee on Appropriations. 

Mr. ALLISON. I should Jike to see that amendment. I have 
here some other papers. The Senator did report some amendment. 

Mr. TELLER, Mr. President, it was passed upon by the Com- 
mittee on Claims and referred, as I understand, to the Committee 
on Appropriations. 1 know the Committee on Claims authorized, 
its being reported. 

Mr. STEWART. Yes. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair overrules the point 
of order, then. The <iuestion is on atireeing to the amendment. 
[Putting the question.] By the sound the " ayes" have it. 

Mr. ALLISON. I call for a division. 

Mr. TELLER. Mr. President, I just want to say one word 
about this matter. If there are any claims that are just and 
proper, which the United States ought to pay, this is one of them. 
It has had all the care and attention it is possible to give a claim. 
Every dollar of this amount has been found by the Treasury De- 
partment to be due the State of Nevada. The State has been kept 
out of it for thirty-odd years. It is an expenditure that all of the 
States in the West were compelled to make from time to time. 
Most of them have been recognized and paid, and there is no rea- 
son why this should not be paid. It is as sacred an obligation, 
in my .ludgment. as the national bonds: and the conditions are 
suth that everybody knows that the Government can pay it now 
as well as at any other time. The situation in Nevad i demands 
that, if the Government is ever to pay it, the Government ought 
to pay it now. 

Mr. HAWLEY. Mr. President, I have served a good many 
years on the Committee on Military Affairs, and at everj' Congress 
have heard this bill discussed Irom beginning to end. There is no 
sort of question as to its justice. It is just as much due as your 
board bill, which you have to paj" every month. 

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the amend- 
ment. 

Mr. ALLISON. I withdraw the call for a division. 

The amendment was agreed to. 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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